I have owned two of these Stanley No. 62's. Not that I bought two,, just that I had to return the first one. This was a year ago. "Why?", you ask? Well, everything at first looked great and the blade was super sharp right out of the box, the sole was flat and both sides were both flat and at 90º to the sole. But I couldn't get it to take an even shaving. Long story short, I discovered the blade bed, while very well machined, was very well machined .020" higher on the right hand side as compared to the left hand side, thus skewing the blade and causing it to project further on one side than the other. Amazon fast-tracked the return process and the replacement is very, very good. I'm not as enamored with the Norris style adjustment mechanism for lateral adjustments as you, so I'm reluctant to grind anything off the sides of the blade as that would change the geometry in the blade sharpening jigs I use. Oh, as is my practice, I bought a spare blade at the same time, but there are no Stanley made blades available, not even by calling Stanley's number in the literature that came with the plane, just one by Zeluga, No. ZL-12-142 is the Replacement Blade listed on Amazon for Stanley Jack Plane Model no 12-137 and 1-12-137. Never have had a response from them as to what kind of steel its made from or what its hardness on the Rockwell scale is.
This plane is now no longer made,i have one and is very good for the job it is made for,but the little brass knob is way too weak and it broke very quickly,and the complaints dept for stanley is full of people who have broken the little screw and Stanley cannot replace the part.I managed to find a replacement screw which had the same thread ,and it now works well,and ii is easy to keep very sharp
As far as I can tell the plane is still made. (My friend picked one up at woodcraft a few weeks ago). But you hit the nail on the head as far as the complaints go. It’s a bit ridiculous
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with this tool. I've had to make a lot of mortise and tenon joints lately and been seriously looking at a shoulder plane. Your video has saved me a lot of time, money and frustration. Back to E-Bay, a couple auctions are ending soon. And it's great to see young men taking up the craft. Thanks again.
If the Blade is down, you can throw the plane in the bin. No spare blades. It could be the big advantage to have different plane blades with different angles. No way!
Hey Matthew I just received this plane yesterday. They have a reputation for doing a running change on their products without making it a new offering. They did that with the miter gauge from Harvey just kept upgrading it without announcements and the HP-8 I just received has much larger mouth opening. Maybe you had something to do with that. The number of turns is just 1 for me but it’s 2023 now. Good video I’ll check out some of your other stuff.
Hey im not sure if youll even see this 2 yrs post video but you seem to know a ton. I lost the knuckle cap, adjuster and blade and just got new from Lee valley. The blade does not want to fit through the mouth if the plane anymore. Am i doing something dumb or do you think they may have sent me something wrong.
I have a number their tools, and have just ordered a couple more sets from them. They are beautifully made, come sharp but with a little work with a strop are easy to get razor sharp. Very comfortable in the hand and a pleasure to use. I would highly recommend them.
I started with a cheap guide which was fine when I was learning ,then got a more expensive guide the roller jammed right from the off.I ended up flattening the roller,so that was a pile of junk.Then I learned freehand all the time using diamond stones and strop to finish of which I now get the best results.
I just received one of these (late Feb. '23) and I agree with everything in Matthew's review. Out of the box, it actually worked passably, but the blade definitely needs honing on both sides to get the best out of it (I did it before reading the instructions telling you not to). With that done, it will produce 0.001" - 0.0015" thick shavings in pine, cherry, and black locust. The finish is so smooth that it looks polished, especially on the locust. So, despite its flaws it's capable of excellent performance. It works fine with the Veritas MK II jig, which I used along with Norton 4000 and 8000 grit water stones. The finish on the sole could definitely be better, but it's flat, so it doesn't leave marks in the wood and I probably won't bother to lap it for now. The adjustable mouth plate on mine has a 0.006" gap to the side of the plane body, which is an issue when you tighten it, as it skews and makes the mouth opening uneven. However, all you need to do is turn the knob back in the other direction until the plate is flush against the opposite side and it's fine. I'll probably shim it so I don't have to think about it. Then again, I may just set it where I want it and forget about it. The backlash in the adjuster seems to be due mostly to a loose fit between the pin on the adjuster and the hole in the blade. I could probably eliminate it by staking the edge of the hole, but I don't know if it's worth the effort. I've had an L-N 102 and a Veritas block plane for a long time, and I've refurbished several Stanley, Record, Keen Kutter and Craftsman planes, plus some wooden-body planes. I bought this as an addition to those, as it's really not a substitute for a standard block plane or an apron plane. It's a special-purpose tool that I intend to use for making some small ukulele parts and similar items that need to be a consistent thickness. I'm confident that it will work great for that purpose. With the skids removed, it should also be handy for working on other small parts.
Bridge city tools just rubbed me the wrong way my first attempt at making a purchase. Tried to order the HP-8 which was on sale for about $80. Went through the checkout process 3-4 times because something about shipping issues. Every time I tried to fix it according to the website it would make me start the process all over. Tried contacting them numerous times, even waited days in between and no response. Went back a couple weeks later to try and order it again and same headache. Tried contacting them again more than once and never heard from them. A company that will not respond to a customer is a company I won't purchase a stick of gum from. I'm actually glad I didn't get the item because after seeing your review I would have been very disappointed in their product for the outrageous full prices they charge. I think their designs are great but the function is no where near the value they put on them. I recently purchased a Jorgensen block plane for a friend of mine for $34 and I tested it with him out of the box and it did really well. Once we cleaned it up and polished everything I have to tell you as far as the shavings and smoothness it would be pretty tough to tell the difference between my LN and Veritas planes. I'm starting to rethink this buying these big brand names especially when we're talking about paying 90% less that accomplishes the same thing. Thanks for the review. It made me feel better about missing out on the HP-8.
I was debating on making a similar video. I bought the sweetheart no. 4 and no. 62. The no. 62 the cap iron screw bottoms out and the blade isn’t even remotely secure. Stanley sent me another one after spending excessive time in trying to get the first one to function properly. The second one they sent, brand new out of the box is the same way. If you spend the time to set up them up and shim the cap iron in order to hold the blade firmly in place, they work great. Just regret not spending a little more on a wood river version. I pretty much use my .no 6 wood river as a jack plane or some older baileys instead of fighting 3 brand new sweet hearts. The no. 4 is a pain in the ass to get it set
I bought one and immediately returned it and bought the Veritas. The Stanley was junk and the Veritas is an absolute pleasure and ultimate perfection. 15:17
Thanks for the history, I have the same spokeshave. It is in good shape but I would like to restore it and clean it up. Can you give me a few pointers or tips on how you restored yours?
Mine was in pretty bad shape. If you want to see what I did I have a 3 part restoration series on this exact plane. I’ve completely refinished planes and just refurbished them the most important thing is to just have fun with it and take your time. If you want it to retain all of its historical relevance don’t repaint it. If you want to make it look new and aren’t worried about its resale value then that’s ok too and let me know and I can tell you what I do when I repaint it.
Aluminum in woodworking is for toys & not tools. Don't worry about the throat adjustment though, any serious user will have to file so many nicks from the leading edge of the aluminum sole that it'll cease to exist by the time you actually need it.
@@matthewvick4930 The funny thing is that I received an offer from BCT the other day to purchase a HP-8 for $69 & I finagled it into a discount on a LN 101. Money much better spent.
@@matthewvick4930 great to hear. I think it’ll work well on rounded things like spindles and legs, where the blade doesn’t have to shave off a full 1-2” width at the same time. I’ll give it a tuneup this month and report back! Your videos are great. Cheers.
To those interested... I just received mine and it appears they fixed the mouth size issue you pointed out (8:52). There is now plenty of space to adjust the mouth opening, I'd say nearly 1/4", even with a new blade. I also agree about the lack of good finishing of the plane's bottom... but I can easily fix that myself by polishing it on some float glass and some increasingly finer honing papers. As far as the honing angle, I think it is recommended to use their guide and I personally don't pay attention to the actual measured angle in that case since the guide achieves the desired result. The printed angle on the blade is for reference only, so you know what blade is loaded to achieve the actual cut angle. Splitting hairs IMHO, but some may find it confusing.
Very honest video , would you consider contacting Lie Nelson to show there tool against the other brands? As a kicker? Pick up a old Stanley low angle block plane. Spend some time refurbishing with a thicker blade ( Hock) ? Bob
It seems the quality of these tools has declined greatly since John Economacki sold to Harvey Industries. But perhaps the pricing will give a wider range of users access to these unique tools. Thanks for the info presented.
Thanks for this review. I'm on the fence with this one. It's currently on sale at BCT for $89 and it looks useful as a chamfer plane (and other special uses) but this video has me pausing to think it over. The fact that the blade and sole were not mirror polished flat kinda disappoints my expectations. An aluminum sole with ridges seems unacceptable considering how simple it would be to get a mirror polished flat product out the door. Also because the blade is so short, getting my honing guide to work on this is a gamble. I'm not keen on buying the BCT honing guide or buying too many more gadgets to dial this plane in. Not sure its worth it.. gonna have to think it over for a bit.
If you are on the fence but can afford a lie Nielsen or veritas apron plane I would definitely choose them over this one. They fit in the hand so much more comfortable and the plane is ready to use out of the box and they both come with customer service that is outstanding. Plus your sharpening setup will probably work with LN or Veritas blades.
@@matthewvick4930 I both of the LN block planes, the 60-1/2 and the 102.. these are probably the most heavily used and most ergonomic planes I own.. but they don't have the skid gizmos (let's face it.. this is a truly unique innovation) which would be great for chamfers and thickness plane small stock like edge banding or something. The sharpening issue is the sticking point. 100% agree with your comment!
I purchased one of these and tossed it in the bin after about 4 uses. I had no issues with the lever cap. My issues was the pin that locks the cap into position pulled out of it's thread and stripped the thread in the process.
